Obituary of Anna "Babe" Totaro
Anna ‘Babe’ Totaro, age, 96, longtime New Canaan resident died peacefully Sunday morning March 17, 2019 at Norwalk Hospital with her loving family by her side. Babe was born in Stamford, Connecticut on Jan. 26, 1923. She was the wife of the late Mark Totaro and she was the daughter of the late Anthony and Amelina Bucciarelli Cerretani.
Babe was a graduate of New Canaan High and the Pratt Business School, in NYC. She returned to New Canaan and worked for Karl Buick and was a civilian airplane spotter on Oenoke Ridge at night, during the beginning years of WWII. Prior to enlisting in the service; Babe worked for R.B. Semler in New Canaan as a bookkeeper. In 1942, Babe enlisted in the United States Navy. She was trained in NY and Iowa, and served in Bainbridge, Maryland and oversaw leave and liberty.
In 1947, Babe married her high school sweetheart, Mark Totaro. They settled in New Canaan and raised four children. In 1978, after her family was grown, Babe went to work for the Tax Collector in the town of New Canaan, retiring in 1995, after 17 years of service.
Babe was a woman of deep faith and was a communicant of St. Aloysius Church. She enjoyed travel, lunches with her girlfriends, Lapham Center activities, volunteering at St Aloysius, the New York Yankees, cooking, and mostly her family. Her family was not only an important thing, her favorite saying was, “Family is everything!”
Babe is survived by her son, Dr. Mark Totaro Jr. (Barbara) of Palmyra, PA. Daughters Marcia Radman(Barry) of New Canaan, Maria Comeskey(Patrick) of Utica, NY, Marlene Funk(Joseph) of Doylestown, PA. Babe is also survived by her 12 grandchildren and her 7 great-grandchildren. Also surviving are sister-in-law and brother-in-law Carmela and Patsy Totaro, and nieces Barbara Lapolla (Vito), Lauren Cerretani, Patricia Angeletti, Celeste Buccino, Marguerite Buccino and nephews James Tiani (Linda), Gary Totaro, and Anthony Cerretani (Joann).
In addition to her husband, Babe was predeceased by her daughter Marcella, brother Laurence Cerretani, and three sisters Emma Tiani, Edith Cerretani, and Mary Garibaldi.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Saturday, April 6, 2019 at 10 AM at Saint Aloysius Church located at 21 Cherry Street in New Canaan, Connecticut. Burial and Military honors will follow at Lakeview Cemetery located on Main Street in New Canaan.
In lieu of flowers; contributions may be made to the GetAbout P.O. Box 224, New Canaan, CT 06840 and New Canaan EMS, 182 South Ave. New Canaan, CT 06840